Cycling
advocates and residents in Southeast and Southwest Portland have prevailed in
their plan to tweak the design of the new Sellwood Bridge to protect pedestrians
and bicyclists and to slow motorists exiting onto Southeast Tacoma Street.

Multnomah
County commissioners have agreed to $4.1 million in design alterations that
would include better lighting, clearly marked lanes for bridge users and a
gateway intended to remind motorists that, on the east end, they're entering a
neighborhood and not a race track.

"You
want to give visual cues to people that this isn't a highway," said Heather
Koch, a Sellwood neighborhood resident who serves on a bridge advisory
committee.

In October, county
commissioners approved the latest designs for the bridge, including the additional
safety elements. The design changes are necessary, advocates say, because the
east end of the new bridge will be more than twice as wide the current span, which
is about 30 feet. Neighbors think the width of the new bridge may give drivers
the wrong impression of the neighborhood they're entering.

Southeast Portland residents
have also expressed concerns that the size of the new bridge will
overwhelm the residential and commercial areas around Southeast Tacoma Street.
For several years, Koch said, there have been discussions about how to mitigate
the impact of a much larger bridge.

So, now the design includes a
gateway on the east end that may include public art funded by the city of Portland.

The gateway, along with
overhead lighting, is intended to slow motorists and provide a clue to the
character of the Sellwood neighborhood, Ian Cannon,
the county's manager for the bridge project.

The
design also includes a wide path with room for pedestrians and cyclists. Benches
will be placed in cordoned-off areas on both sides of the bridge to give
pedestrians a place to stop and enjoy the views. Lighting will illuminate the
arches at the top of the bridge.

"It's
fairly subtle so it's not overpowering for the neighborhood," Cannon said. "But
it will allow the structure to be seen overnight."

Plans
also call for new trees, lights and signs on Southeast Tacoma Street, west of
Sixth Avenue.

Work
on the $268 million project to replace the 86-year-old bridge began in October
and will continue until the end of 2015. But the county is still trying to
cover a funding shortfall of nearly $23 million.

County officials hope to close
that gap with a federal grant expected to be announced by the end of the year,
according to spokesman Mike Pullen. If the county doesn't get the grant, there
will be questions about whether to retain the design changes that Sellwood
residents and others have sought.

Since
the beginning of this year, the county has cut about $63 million from the
project. But, Koch pointed out, the safety features amount to less than two percent of the
total cost.